"Ho Ho Ho! He's growing bigger and stronger every day! My son, my pride and joy! The latent battle power within you is nothing short of astonishing! It is you who will rule the universe, even while that monster Frieza thinks the Saiyans will serve him without question as other races have. He's wrong; he'll fall to us!"
The large man placed his hand upon the pod containing his first-born son and gained a vicious grin. The red medicinal liquid kept him afloat within his infantile development pod.
"I look forward to watching you grow into a vicious king."
The man looked at his child for a bit longer. His grin never faded, beaming with pride and hope at what he'd one day become. He'd far surpass him; he'd beat Frieza, his son Vegeta the fourth would rise to strike fear across the universe. He was sure of it. He was born with the highest battle power in all of Saiyan history; he had to be the greatest among the Saiyan race.
He walked down from the platform that raised the young prince's development pod above others in the super-elite development chambers. Yet as he walked down unto the lower platform, reserved for children of noble birth and extraordinary power levels, he saw a child he didn't recognize, which was very peculiar because he did not authorize the child to be placed unto the noble development level.
"Who is this child, and why is he even in the same room as my son!?" The King cried out to the scientists still looking over his son's royal red development pod.
"Y-your majesty! This is Broly, the child of Colonel Paragus."
"This nursery is reserved for exceptional children destined to become Saiyan elites! Not some low-ranking baby taken off the street! Explain yourselves!"
"Yes, of course, your majesty, well, you see, we found that his latent abilities are exceptionally high."
That comment seemed to enrage the king.
"Do you dare suggest that a mere commoner has a latent ability comparable to my SON!?" The King barked. The White robed scientists backed up, but the more prominent scientist persisted upon looking to his shorter supervisor for guidance, who just nodded at him to keep up the explanation for the irate King of the Saiyans.
"Well, sir, we analyzed Broly and…his battle power far exceeded your son's." The scientist explained. King Vegeta reeled back in utter disbelief.
"What you're suggesting is impossible, Prince Vegeta the fourth, in case you all forgot, broke every record known in Saiyan history! Give me that!" The King barked as he took away the Nursery scout scope to measure the typical child's power level. He placed the green scope onto the green pod housing Broly, and he began to scan the infant's ability level. He watched as the scope honed in on Broly and various yellow Saiyan letters flicked across the green glass and control panel screens. Yet they were flicking around far too quickly, then they became even faster, and once the baby began screaming for some reason, the Scouter heated and exploded in the King's hand.
The King gripped his hand in surprise, and he growled at the shorted-out scope alongside Broly.
"I'm sorry, the ability gauge reader seems to have shorted out! We'll fetch a new one immediately."
"Sending for one now." The only female scientist in the nursery said. She wasn't a true Saiyan, what with her blue hair being a dead giveaway. It was more than likely that she was some sort of intelligent half-breed that snuck her way up the ranks. As everyone knew, pure-blooded Saiyans sported only black hair.
He waited and allowed the scientists to perform another reading, and upon doing so, the gauge meter didn't short out this time.
"Ah, upon further inspection, his reading is far less than even half of its original, my Lord. We've been getting many anomalous readings in the nursery. Lately, this must've been due to a gauge malfunction."
"Yet even if we ignore his initial readings, Broly's latent abilities are still nothing short of remarkable." The woman commented. The King frowned, seemingly unconvinced.
"Once he grows up, he will be a powerful asset to our forces, I can assure you, my lord."
"He could even end up being the legendary Super Saiyan."
King Vegeta scoffed at those words, yet his frown seemed less pronounced as he stared down at this Broly child. That's about the time when the entire nursery began to short out all of a sudden. The lights started flickering, ability gauges were shorting out, and electricity was sparking everywhere.
"What the hell is happening!?" The King exclaimed.
"I-I do not know, my lord! The backup generators are even hooked up to this nursery, so I can't understand why-"
"WAAAHHHH!"
The voice that bellows through the nursery was one of the infants, but it was not the voice but the location that was of interest. It came from behind them; it was prince Vegeta. He was in great pain all of a sudden. The King unleashed his Ki and burst towards his son's development pod in a flash of light, leaving the scientists in his wake.
"Get up here now and help my son! If he dies and I find out you are all to blame, I shall have you all publicly executed!" The King roared. The scientists scrambled up the steps and were about to try and assist when suddenly, a bright flash occurred, a flash of white that blinded everyone that seemed to come from the prince, and when the light cleared, the nursery was back to normal.
Everyone recovered; the Prince had stopped crying out in pain and had resumed his natural slumber. How he had even cried out so loudly was a mystery. Yet the king decided not to take any chances, and he threw up the royal gauge to the red-tinted glass. His face paled at what he read.
"A power level of only 94!? His power level has decreased tenfold in mere moments! How could this happen?" The King cried out.
"I-I don't know, my lord, nothing like this has ever happened before, but we can assure you that we'll do everything in our power to ensure the prince recovers soon." The scientist ensured him.
"Tch, fine! Report to me by tonight on my son's condition. Until then this doesn't get out to anyone, do you understand me!?" The King ordered.
"Y-yes, sire."
"Good, because if I go around hearing that you've spilled what happened here today without my blessing, I will hand you to the cold force myself for them to use you all as their playthings!" The King barked. He left them to their duties but was still seething internally.
"First that Broly child and now my son has devolved into a weakling? How can I possibly fix this horrible mess if he doesn't recover?" The King muttered to himself. He left the nursery in a huff, angered at the unexpected turn of events that had taken place.
"What happened?"
The King stilled; he knew that voice all too well. He turned around to see a short but strong-framed Saiyan woman with wild hair. She sported a strong jaw much like most Saiyans; some of her bangs drifted in front of her eyes but not nearly enough to hinder her vision.
"Sadala."
"Don't call me that, Vegeta; you know I hate that name."
"It is customary for the king of the Saiyan race to be named Vegeta after the new planet. The queen is named Sadala as an homage to the original Saiyan homeworld. You omitted your original name when I took your hand in marriage; how many times have we gone through this Sadala?"
"My name is Teach."
"Not anymore, it isn't, woman; how can you fail to understand that straightforward concept!?"
"Why can't you just call me that in public?"
"Urgh, you're infuriating as usual! But, whatever, why are you here? Shouldn't you be drowning yourself in alcohol like usual? Or out with some other low-class male bastard?"
"That happened before we even met each other!"
"You are a super-elite, and he was nothing but a low-class wretch! That sort of relationship should've never occurred unless you were downright raping the man for a one-night stand, in which case no one would've cared."
"I'm allowed to love who I choose, or at least I did once before you swooped in."
"You dare speak to your king that way?"
"I am queen just as you are king! We share the same amount of power in Saiyan society; I simply choose not to flaunt it nearly as much as you do Vegeta! I know how much you fear being overthrown one day; maybe I'll be the one to end you."
"...Heh, you never cease to amaze me with your stubborn pride. I suppose that's why I chose you, now why are you here?" The King backed off with a small grin. Her frown never left her but her glare eased slightly.
"I came to see our son."
"Hmph, truth be told, that's why I came down as well. Prince Vegeta the fourth."
"What happened there? The whole castle shorted out, where there's electricity anyways. This palace is so old-fashioned. I heard you screaming in the nursery as well. You're hardly the quietest man out there." She teased or insulted; he could never really tell with his wife.
"I tell you this only due to you being his mother; you'd find out eventually even if I tried to keep it secret. The prince's battle power has dropped significantly after some kind of unforeseen power malfunction."
"What is it?"
"A measly ninety-four."
The queen scoffed in genuine disbelief.
"He had broken every record we had."
"Yes, he had, with a battle power of over nine hundred even. Yet that's not all. Some Colonel named Paragus sired a son with so much latent ability that it caused the gauge to short out like a field scope. His ability far exceeded that of Vegeta the fourth."
"What!? A Colonel's son!? That's impossible!" She yelled.
"For once, we finally seem to agree on something. One of the staff even had the gall to call this Broly a super Saiyan, the nerve of that mixed-race wench made me want to stomp her throat out. I thought about just exiling the overpowered brat to a barren and inhospitable world at first before the incident occurred."
"So what now then?"
"The nursery staff are going to try and fix our son, as for Broly…I'm going to let him live, for now anyway. But, I'll exile him if Frieza starts to catch wind of him, Broly can't fight yet, and Frieza is nothing if not secretly a bit paranoid about the Saiyan race."
"What if our son doesn't recover?"
"Hmph, we sire a new heir, what else is there to do? I'll send the fourth off to some distant world and hopefully, never see that waste of potential and effort ever again if he doesn't make a full recovery." Vegeta explained.
"I see; well, I'll go in and check on our darling prince then if you don't mind, my king." She taunted. King Vegeta frowned but said nothing else as he walked back towards his throne room to seek further counsel on the Frieza issue from his most trusted advisors. Meanwhile, Queen Sadala, or Teach as she preferred, entered the nursery to see the nursery scientists examining her son's royal pod.
"I have yet to see anything that might have caused his condition. A sudden battle power drop has never happened before without any physical cause as far as I can recall; how will we tell the king?"
"He will be furious for sure; I see no real way to fix the prince's condition. It seems that only his energy has been affected."
"So you're all saying that my son is now a waste of space?" Teach called out from the noble platform, looking towards the royal platform where the staff and the single development pod resided. Frightening all the staff as none of them had seen or heard her.
"A-ah, you're majesty, we're sorry, but there's nothing we can do."
"Surgery?"
"His Ki channels, as far as the pod is saying, are fine, physically. He's healthy, but his energy has been weakened tenfold after the malfunction occurred. I'm sorry, but after even just a few moments of extensive observation, we see no current option where the prince will ever fully recover from this. Mind you, though, I don't think any Saiyan is a huge expert on-"
"Enough. Trying to fix him is a waste of time and energy. No, I think I have a better idea. My husband mentioned something about a Broly?"
"Ah yes, well, his initial readings far exceeded the prince's even before the incident occurred. However, upon further inspection, we have seen that his power tends to fluctuate greatly depending on the child's emotional state. For example, when he becomes irritated by something, his Ki rises dramatically. Mind you, and it could also be due to another malfunction, as we've received numerous anomalous readings in the nursery as of late."
"What's the highest reading you've gotten? I'm not King Vegeta, and I will not throw a hissy fit at you for speaking the truth."
"Of course, your highness. Well, the highest reading that we've found was an astonishing level of…well it's quite unbelievable but…ten thousand."
The queen remained utterly silent for a few moments. Then, finally, she looked down from the royal nursery and back down to the noble nursery.
"Which one?"
"Broly is the child in the green pod left of the stairs on the noble section, my lady."
Teach leapt down to where he spoke of and looked into the nursery pod. Sure enough, this child didn't look at all familiar, and she too was aware of who was supposed to be allowed on the noble section of the elite nursery. She picked up the gauge and held it up to Broly's pod. As he slept, she watched as the numbers slowly crept onto the screen.
"Nine hundred and twenty? That's only twenty points lower than the prince was at." She muttered to herself as she made sure she was reading the numbers correctly. That's when an idea cropped up in her mind, one that would change the course of history but also one she wasn't overly proud of.
"My lady? Is something the matter?"
"...I need to see the king for a moment. Do not stop trying to aid the prince, even if you see it as pointless." The queen ordered before storming out of the nursery in a hurry.
Later, King Vegeta sat alone in his throne room at the bizarre request of his wife of all people. The Saiyan elites, minus his one most trusted advisor Tecres, who had served his family since the days of his grandfather, stood in the main hall.
"What is it now, woman? Has something come of Prince Vegeta the fourth?" King Vegeta asked.
"No, the nursery staff thinks he's a lost cause. I've seen this Broly you've mentioned though; while resting his power level sits at nine hundred and twenty."
"He's a freak, he was born from a commoner's seed and has a power level that rivals that of the original Prince himself. So we've been over this, what of it?"
"I just had a thought, with a child whose power level can max out at ten thousand, and our son who's now a disabled child. Why don't we take Broly in as our own?"
King Vegeta stood up, balking at the mere notion.
"You dare suggest that a commoner should join the royal family? To take the name of Vegeta?"
"This commoner is a baby and already has a power level that can rival your own when he does nothing but cry! It would be a waste to kill or exile the boy, but no, I won't claim him as my child. Our pride won't allow that, and I say we could simply kill Paragus and train him up to be a sort of bodyguard or secret heavy hitter for the next in line. Yet I think I have something better in mind to test his loyalty."
King Vegeta lost his scowl slightly.
"That's…an interesting proposal. So you are prepared to sire a new heir then? What exactly do you plan to do with our firstborn son then? Most of the planet Vegeta already knows of his birth and of the striking resemblance he bears to me." The King asked.
"Paragus could want to use Broly to usurp us, and he'll be outraged if we decide to discard his only son. I say we…."
"Get out of my way!"
The doors to the main Royal Hall were opened by an older Saiyan man sporting a moustache wearing a white cloak.
"That's far enough." King Vegeta's advisor, Tecres, ordered calmly. The man fell to one knee, bowing to the king and the other elite Saiyans of the Royal Hall.
"Please, forgive me for barging in, but I understand you plan to send Broly away. I'm told his pod will be destined for a distant world." Paragus asked, his voice wavering slightly with worry laced through it.
"That is correct." King Vegeta echoed throughout the Grand Hall.
"That's a fate meant for a lower-class warrior, not my son," Paragus argued, still on one knee. The Royal Court stared at the kneeling Saiyan, their faces devoid of outward emotion, while King Vegeta replied.
"On the contrary, what better way is there to prove your son is a skillful warrior than by conquering an unclaimed planet on his own? After all, that's what Saiyans have always done. We subjugate powerful worlds and sell them to the highest bidder."
Paragus agreed with the king except for one important detail.
"His destination is the planetoid Vampa, and it's a bleak world devoid of intelligent life. I don't see how we can make much of a profit off it." Paragus argued. The King decided the charade was up.
Or at least the charade he was pretending to put on.
"The truth of the matter is that your son Broly's latent abilities are abnormally elevated. I would go so far as to call him a freak, and someday that power may end up driving him completely insane. When that time comes, he will not just be a danger to planet Vegeta but the entire universe. So you should be grateful I'm not simply ending his life instead."
"No, this isn't right," Paragus muttered as he dared to stand without permission. The court's eyes narrowed at the Colonel, but none made a move against him.
"You! You're jealous because Broly's latent abilities surpass that of the prince's, don't they!? So you're trying to exile my son," Paragus argued. King Vegeta frowned. The Colonel had no idea how right he indeed was. Or how wrong he was at the same time.
"Say another word, and I will have your tongue. Then just kill the both of you." King Vegeta threatened. Paragus looked angry but took a step back in fear. He did not stand a chance against the king, let alone the entire royal court.
"Besides, you're too late; he's gone. I had the pod launched before you got here. So what exactly will you do now, Colonel?" King Vegeta asked. The Colonel said nothing, he just looked to the window, and a moment later he burst through the royal chamber, breaking a window and soaring to the landing bay.
"I will pursue him, my lord."
"There's no need. In genuine truth, I lied to the Colonel. This display was a test of loyalty. He is a major suspect of treason; let him go for now."
"You lied? About what exactly, my lord?"
"After some private council with Queen Sadala, we both concluded that while Broly is dangerous, he is only dangerous to planet Vegeta in the hands of Colonel Paragus. However, as you've seen now, he displayed a great amount of interest in the current status of the fourth prince of Vegeta. Not only that, but he managed to somehow sneak his son into the elite nursery, onto the noble section no less, without my direct say so. Of course, he's scheming up something involving his abnormal son, but that's not all."
The King stood from his throne, and all the members of the royal court looked to him.
"Earlier today, the elite nursery was sabotaged momentarily. Prince Vegeta the fourth was crippled as a direct result, resulting in his battle power dropping right after this; Broly somehow managed to break a gauge reader with his energy alone. Colonel Paragus is the number one suspect for this treasonous act, and as such, I believe he is now responsible for crippling the fourth prince. The fourth prince is no longer the heir to the throne due to his incurable condition."
"You wish to use your power as the king to see this case closed I assume my lord? As well as to use the royal miscarriage law, which states how should a Saiyan prince or princess develop improperly during their developmental years and before their first growth spurt that the current ruler can forfeit their right to the throne?" Tecres asked.
"I do, there shall be no further trial unless further evidence pointing to another suspect is provided. From here on I declare Colonel Paragus stripped of his rank and made an enemy of the Saiyan empire and the fourth prince of Vegeta forfeit from the throne. Does the court have anything to say about this?"
"Yes, m'lord. What exactly have you done with Broly? Also, what of the next heir to planet Vegeta if the fourth prince is no longer the rightful heir?"
"Most of the court need not worry about that freak Broly, he's being taken care of. Tecres! Inform general Nappa that should Colonel Paragus attempt to return he should be killed on sight, the same order to kill Paragus on sight goes for the entire Saiyan race and I shall ensure everyone knows that myself. Also, Arlic, I want you to find out who exactly gave birth to Broly. As for the next heir, Queen Sadala and I are working on it. Do not think for a moment that our seed produces weaklings, the fourth prince broke every record in Saiyan history before he was sabotaged by unknown means. If I hear any of you even mentioning that I will rip out your tongues and have you executed."
"Yes, your highness." The Court echoed.
"Tend to your duties immediately. Oh, and before I forget, Parslee, have someone prepare the live feed to be transmitted to all of planet Vegeta in the next few hours or so. I need to give the message to the rest of planet Vegeta."
"Yes, sire."
Hours passed by and eventually the council member that is known as Parslee had successfully set up the cameras needed in King Vegeta's throne rooms. Drones with screens flew across planet Vegeta, relaying the live feed to everyone. Even the low-class Saiyans across the world.
"Attention to all Saiyans of Planet Vegeta. Today, the one known as Colonel Paragus has been exiled from planet Vegeta due to acts of treason and deception against his king. Should he be seen again, he is to be killed on sight. If you are too weak to kill the colonel, report his whereabouts to someone who can get the job done. He is also suspected to be responsible for acts against the still developing fourth prince of Vegeta. Queen Sadala and I shall produce a new heir to the throne in time, and the fourth prince is formally forbidden from taking on the throne through the royal miscarriage law and through no fault of his own, but through the fault of general Paragus. That is all." King Vegeta announced.
"A Colonel committed treason?"
"What exactly did he do to the prince?"
"What a coward! Everyone knows that if he wanted to be king so Damn badly he could've trained and challenged king Vegeta!"
"The King is a monster, though, and he's just a Colonel. Not a member of the Royal Court, even General Nappa can't hold a candle to King Vegeta and the Royal Court."
"So is the fourth prince also exiled?"
"No, just forbidden from taking on the throne through family bonds alone. So if the fourth prince ever wants the throne, he'll have to defeat the king in a fight."
These were a few of the conversations that sparked across planet Vegeta after that announcement had been made. Once it was done, a member of the Royal Court, Arlic, entered the King's chambers.
"That's far enough," Tecres ordered. Arlic bowed to the king, and the king allowed him to rise to his feet.
"So what say you, Arlic? Found something for me I presume?"
"Yes, sire...she goes by the name of Avaca. I found her in the national database, but she's not in her registered home. None of the neighbours to Colonel Paragus seem to know much about her at all actually."
"Damn it, maybe Paragus was a tad more cunning than I anticipated if he went so far as to hide his wife beforehand. Continue the search and do not report back to me unless something changes or you've found her. I don't care who you must interrogate to find out the truth. You're dismissed."
"As you command," Arlic said. He bowed and left the king alone with nothing but his thoughts and his most trusted advisor Tecres. A shorter man sporting a large moustache and a thin frame.
"If I may be so blunt my lord, I believe it would be in your best interests to search through the royal archives. I just recalled how your father King Vegeta the second going through something along the lines of dealing with an abnormally powerful hidden Saiyan lineage."
"Truly? Well, it might as well be worth a look I suppose. What period exactly?"
"I'd say around the age of 700 or so. While you were going through your second growth spurt, sire."
"Hmm, I see. Very well, let's see what the archives have to say." King Vegeta decided. He left the royal Hall and made his way to the castle library, walking past the pictures of his two predecessors, king Vegeta the first and second. His eyes lingered on his father's picture. Most of the Vegeta line bore a striking resemblance to one another, with the only major differences between himself and his father being height and the fact that his father never grew facial hair. His hair was also wilder and more unkempt as well. He was the most ruthless King the planet had ever seen, even he paled, in comparison to his father, and the fear he had driven into the Saiyan race during his rule.
The castle library was a large place but a somewhat dusty and empty one. It was a place where all the archives of the last King's were kept, and the books here held most of the Saiyan's recorded history down to the legend of the Super Saiyan. Tecres knew these halls better than he did, so he let his advisor guide him as he always had. Despite not being a very powerful Saiyan, he held a wealth of knowledge that could not be underestimated.
"Here we are sure, the archives from age 700 to 710."
"Thank you Tecres. See to it that I am undisturbed for a few moments." King Vegeta ordered. His advisor bowed and walked towards the exit of the castle library. King Vegeta skimmed through the shelves of books, all holding a wealth of knowledge he had only begun to really tap into thanks to his time being preoccupied with advancing the Saiyan race and constantly dealing with the newly dubbed Frieza Force.
He grabbed the archives of age seven hundred and began skimming through the records of Saiyan history. This was an age before the Tuffle wars, when their race was still somewhat primitive despite them having landed on planet Vegeta with stolen technology after planet Sadala was destroyed at age 550, so much of the language was rather hard to read for him. Yet it was not impossible, and after skimming through many pages he eventually found an intriguing chapter.
The chapter of the berserker. It depicted his father having to secretly deal with an out-of-control Saiyan with so much power that he actually posed a threat to planet Vegeta. With the help of the court, the King managed to kill the Saiyan before he became too powerful but nearly died doing so, yet their attempts to see if his bloodline had continued were unsuccessful. It was suspected that he might've been related to the first legendary super Saiyan.
Yet his bloodline was never confirmed to be eradicated or not. Which meant this Broly might've been his descendant. Paragus somehow had found out about them, so it was no wonder he had hidden Acava from the king early on. Yet that begged the question, where was she? How powerful was she? Did she pose a threat to planet Vegeta as well? To his lineage?
Realizing this was an even more serious matter than he initially thought it to be, he quickly returned the book and ran out of the library. He needed to find that woman before anyone else could; her blood was hazardous, especially if she sired any more children.
"M-my lord? What is the matter?"
"You should've spoken up sooner, Tecres! What exactly did you know about my father and this dangerous Saiyan?"
"Not much; he rarely mentioned it to me. He simply said that he wrote it in the archives should it ever arise again, sire."
"A battle like that should've shaken the planet! Whatever, it doesn't matter! What matters right now is that we send everyone we have on hand to find that accursed woman! If she sires any more devil-spawn, it could mean the end for planet Vegeta and the entire universe! I want the entire court working on this; if Frieza somehow catches wind of this, he might wipe us out before we're strong enough to fight back!" The King shouted. He ran to his throne room and called an emergency court meeting, and the royal Court quickly met in his throne room.
"Listen up! The situation has changed, as of right now all of your top priorities should be to locate the woman known as Avaca, the wife of ex-Colonel Paragus. Assist each other in any way you can, I want her brought to me dead or alive. Preferably alive, do not hesitate to call for support should you need it. I have reason to believe that this woman is a potential threat to the entire Saiyan empire. Dismissed!" The King shouted. The Royal Court bowed to the king and flew out the door, leaving only Tecres behind with the king.
"M'lord, if I may be so blunt, if the girl truly is that big of an issue then…what if she defeats the royal Court?"
"Then I have something else up my sleeve Tecres, as you know, we have her only son in custody. I will use the brat as leverage should I need to, this is for the good of the Saiyan race. I can afford to swallow my pride once in a while if it means we can continue surviving properly in this accursed universe." King Vegeta explained. That was one thing the third king had to do more than any king before him, swallow his pride for the good of the Saiyan race. First Frieza, then the fabled Lord Beerus himself, and now this. King Vegeta the third was used to using dirty tactics to get ahead.
Yet his pride still carried him for a while like any other Saiyan king.
Tecres secretly wondered in the depths of his mind where had the royal family gone wrong as of late? He couldn't describe it, but there was a feeling in his gut that the royal family had just made a grave error of some kind. The short Saiyan looked into the sky; could it be due to the early exile of the fourth prince? Had they exiled him too quickly?
He sighed; perhaps that question would answer itself one day. But, for now, the biggest threat was not the prince but a single Saiyan woman.